This invention relates to a massage device which provides pleasant and effective massaging of the soles of the feet.
Recently several different types of massage machines operating according to mechanical and electromagnetic principles which can replace skilled practitioners in Japanese finger acupressure (Shiatsu) therapy have been developed.
Some of these massage devices resemble the so-called shoulder massage machines for massaging the waist, back, shoulders, etc. which use the opening and closing motion of a pair of massage device elements in contact with the appropriate part of the body. Other massage devices use rollers mounted under a bed which move as they press against the appropriate part of the body of a patient sleeping atop the bed. Vibrator devices which convert rotary motion generated by a motor into reciprocating motion to create vibrations or which transmit vibrations generated by electromagnetic methods to the appropriate part of the body to obtain a massage effect are also well known.
Devices for massaging the sole of the foot, which, operating on the same principle as shoulder massage devices, use the opening and closing motion of a pair of massage device elements in contact with the foot, and hand held vibrators for transmitting vibrations to the sole of the foot are also used.
The shoulder massage devices described above have serious drawbacks, however. The opening and closing of the massage device elements produce a massaging effect only at those places on the body which can be reached by this type of device. These massage devices cannot produce the same effect as shiatsu applied by finger pressure at an acupressure point on the body. Moreover, the pressure applied by the massage device elements on the body varies as the massage device elements move across the surface of the body. Thus an even massaging effect cannot be achieved.
Moving rollers pressing against the body likewise cannot achieve the same effect as shiatsu at the acupressure points of the body. The irregular rises and depressions on the surface of the human body do not correspond to the fixed path which the rollers should follow across the body. Thus the rollers cannot apply pressure evenly along the surface of the body and cannot provide an even massaging effect.
Techniques using hand held vibrators naturally cannot produce shiatsu like effects. Obtaining an even pressure as the vibrator moves along appropriate places on the body is very difficult.